Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times 24 Introduce 'Times Parking Caravan' for the First Time to Operate Parking for the 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival' in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture
Times 24's mobile parking management service 'Times Parking Caravan' will be introduced at the Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival in April 2026. By utilizing camera-based license plate recognition and cashless pre-payment, it aims to alleviate parking congestion and reduce the need for operational staff.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 10, 2026 at 19:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 11, 2026 at 00:27 (4h 57m after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 20, 2026 at 02:11 (217h 44m after Collected)
The Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times 24 Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; President: Koichi Nishikawa; hereinafter 'Times 24') will introduce the mobile parking management service 'Times Parking Caravan' for the first time in the parking lot operation of the 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival' to be held in Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture from April 10 to 29, 2026.
The 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival', one of the three major cherry blossom viewing spots in the Michinoku region, attracts many visitors from all over the country to see the 2-kilometer-long row of cherry trees and the approximately 10,000 cherry trees of 150 varieties blooming in Tenshochi Park.
The park has a large free parking lot, but during the event period, it is operated as a paid lot temporarily to accommodate the large number of visitors. Therefore, manned payment handling was conducted at the time of exit, causing a problem of congestion as vehicles waiting to pay stagnated near the exit. Furthermore, securing personnel for parking lot operation was difficult, and the establishment of a more efficient and smooth operation system was required.
To solve these issues, the 'Times Parking Caravan' will be introduced for the operation of the first parking lot (119 spaces) in the park at this year's 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival'.
The 'Times Parking Caravan' is a mobile parking management service that enables short-term, temporary parking lot operations by traveling to parking lot sites during temporary parking demand, such as at events, using vehicles equipped with cashless payment machines, vehicle license plate recognition cameras, power supply facilities, etc.
By switching from the conventional operation method of cash payment and manned handling at the parking lot exit to a camera-based, cashless pre-payment operation, it is expected to alleviate congestion caused by waiting for payment. In addition, by enabling entry/exit management through vehicle license plate recognition, the number of personnel required for operation will be reduced.
The Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times 24 will aim to build a sustainable event operation system by creating an environment where visitors to the 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival' can access the event more comfortably and by realizing smooth parking lot operations.
## ■ Parking Lot Overview
* Address: 10 Chiwari Tachibana, Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture
* Event Period: Friday, April 10 to Wednesday, April 29, 2026
* Number of Parking Spaces: First parking lot: 119 spaces (Third parking lot: 250 spaces) * The parking lot introducing the 'Times Parking Caravan' is only the first parking lot...
The 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival', one of the three major cherry blossom viewing spots in the Michinoku region, attracts many visitors from all over the country to see the 2-kilometer-long row of cherry trees and the approximately 10,000 cherry trees of 150 varieties blooming in Tenshochi Park.
The park has a large free parking lot, but during the event period, it is operated as a paid lot temporarily to accommodate the large number of visitors. Therefore, manned payment handling was conducted at the time of exit, causing a problem of congestion as vehicles waiting to pay stagnated near the exit. Furthermore, securing personnel for parking lot operation was difficult, and the establishment of a more efficient and smooth operation system was required.
To solve these issues, the 'Times Parking Caravan' will be introduced for the operation of the first parking lot (119 spaces) in the park at this year's 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival'.
The 'Times Parking Caravan' is a mobile parking management service that enables short-term, temporary parking lot operations by traveling to parking lot sites during temporary parking demand, such as at events, using vehicles equipped with cashless payment machines, vehicle license plate recognition cameras, power supply facilities, etc.
By switching from the conventional operation method of cash payment and manned handling at the parking lot exit to a camera-based, cashless pre-payment operation, it is expected to alleviate congestion caused by waiting for payment. In addition, by enabling entry/exit management through vehicle license plate recognition, the number of personnel required for operation will be reduced.
The Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival Executive Committee and Times 24 will aim to build a sustainable event operation system by creating an environment where visitors to the 'Kitakami Tenshochi Cherry Blossom Festival' can access the event more comfortably and by realizing smooth parking lot operations.
## ■ Parking Lot Overview
* Address: 10 Chiwari Tachibana, Kitakami City, Iwate Prefecture
* Event Period: Friday, April 10 to Wednesday, April 29, 2026
* Number of Parking Spaces: First parking lot: 119 spaces (Third parking lot: 250 spaces) * The parking lot introducing the 'Times Parking Caravan' is only the first parking lot...